Pin or bolt retainer for railway-brake-beam levers and connections



May 5, 1925.

1,536,568 s. A. CRONE FOR RAILWAY BRAKE BEAM LEVERS AND CONNECTIONSFiled 0012. 13, 1924 Pm 0R BOLT RETAINER INVENTOR: flaps 4. 6704's, BY lATTORNEY i of East Orange,

Patented May 5, 1925 i A. CRONE, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY PIN OR BOLTRETAINER FOR RAILVJAY-IBBAKE-BEAIVL LEVEBS AND CONNECTIONS.

Application filed October 13, 1924. Serial No.,'?43,429.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SETH citizen of the UnitedStates, and resident inthe county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Pin or Bolt Retainers for Railway-BrakeBeamLevers and Connections, of which the following is a specification.

The invention resides in a special retaining device for preventing theloss of a pin from a car brake rigging in the event that the usualcotter key customarily employed for securing the pin should have beeninadvertently omitted or, if applied, should become broken or detachedfrom the pin.

I illustrate my invention herein as ap-v plied to a brake beam strut andto the head of the usual pin on which the brake lever is mounted betweenthe sides of the strut. The retaining device is formed from a fiat pieceof steel having a base section interposed between one side of the strutand the brake lever and having a hole through whichthe brake lever pinpasses, and sections extending from the ends of said base section andadapted to be folded against the side edges oi: thestrutside andinwardly toward each other over ,the head of the pin, thereby forming abox-band transversely encompassing closing the headoi' the pin, thedevice thus being capable of retaining the pin in place regardless oithe presence or absence of the cotter key.

1 The body of theretaining device is initially formed with bends or toldlines defining the severalsections oi the device, the device then havingthe sections thereot standing atvarious angles to one another,

but being sufiiciently open to permit of the insertion of the devicebetween'the strut sides and the placing of the perforated middle or basesection thereof transversely against the inneriace of the strut side thedevice is finally to encompass. The said bends define fold lines onwhich the several sections of the device are to be folded into box-bandform. The sections defined by the i the pin,

bend or fold lines are definitely proportioned to the width andthickness of the.

strut side, plus the thickness of the head or and the device by reasonof said bend or fold lines may be conveniently and with precisionapplied to operative position. y

A. CRONE, a

a portion of the strut side and en- The invention will be fullyunderstood from the detailed description hereinafter presented,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which: i

Fig. 1 is a top view, partly broken away, of a trussed brake-beam, tothe brake lever pin of which is applied the retaining device of myinvention;

Fig. 2 is a section through the same, on a larger scale, taken on thedotted line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and. i

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the retain ing device in will bemanufactured and sold, the device then being in condition to be properlyapplied along the fold lines indicated thereon to operative position. i

In the drawings, referringto Figs. 1, 2

and 3, 1O designates a portion of a truss key 19 at the other end. Thesides'15, 16

of the strut are formed with the usual bosses 20 around the holes 21lever pin. 1 a

The retaining deviceoi my invention is numbered, as a whole, 22 and itspurpose is to prevent the loss of the pin 17 a in the event that thecotter key 19 should become broken or lose its place or shouldoriginally have been inadvertently omitted from the pin. The retainingdevice 22 is formed from a strip of mild steel and is given the initialform illustrated by solid lines in Fig. 3 and by dotted lines inFig. 2,and said strip when in therein for the brake of the base section 23 andhaving a length I equal to or somewhat greater than the com binedthickness of the strut side 16, boss 20 thereon and head 18 of the pin,a section 26 extending from the outer end of the section 24; and beingof suificient length,

the form in which the same.

head 18 at one end and a cotter.

final operative position forms a box-like band, as shown in Fig. 2.

by preference, to extend entirely across the head o f' tlie pinandnearly to the opposite edge of the retaining device and a section 27extending inwardly from the outer end of the section and adapted to lapupon the.- outer. end of the section'26, which is considerably longerthan the section 27, as shown in Fig. 2.

In first applying the retaining device to position, said device thenbeing of the shape'indicatedby dotted lines in Fig. 2 and solid lines inFig. 3, the device will be inserted endwise betweenthe sides l5, 16 otthe strut'and the 'basemember or section 22') ofthe retaining devicewill be moved against the=-inner face otthestrut side 16 or to theposition shown in Fig. 2. litter the device has beenapplied to theposition shown by dotted linesin Fig. 2, the brake lever 14 will beintroduced between. the strut sides15, 16 andthe brakelever pin.inserted through said. strut sides, at the holes 21 therein, section: 23of the retaining device and through: the. usual hole insthe brake lever,and thereafter the sections 24, 25 will be bent outwardly againstthesideedges of the st1iut siderl6 and. thereupon the: long outersection 26 of the retaining device will. be bentinwardly. across thehead..18 of the brakedeveripin, afterswhich theshort sectionv 2'Zofthe.retaining device will be bent inwardly to lap upon. section 26, .theWhOlG. then forming. a boxlike. band transversely encompassing the strutside, theboss 20 thereon and thehead ot' .the pin-. 17, as. clearlyshown.inFig. 2. There is an advantage in having the section 26ofthe.retaining device oficonsiderable length since thereby said.sectionxinay be more .readily bent inwardly .across the head oft-he.pin.:. There is.alsoean advantagein having the section 27 of thecomparatively short,- since thereby said sectioniis stiffened and maybeused asa satis-v factory lock or nneans for securingthe outer end ofthe longer section 26 againstithe head ofxthe gpin. The section 27beingshort, resistsany tendency of the pin or other object to turn it.outwardly or bend it from the section 26,1:and;hence.thesection 27 is inthe nature of a strong loch tion 26 against-the head of the pin. Whenchef-retaining device is in itsfinal position shown in Fig.2 it willbeobvious that the pin 17 cannot-escape from the strut or brake. leverregardless of whether the cotter key 19 is :presentor absent. It isalsoobvious. that the retaining device being of box-like form. will not byany ordinaryaccident .be torn from its operative position against thehead of the pin-l7, and to accomplish this purpose is one of the objectsof my invention.

A distinguishing characteristic of my in- Vention is that the.retaining. device is in the .and through the hole9 in the base theiouterend of the retaining device for binding thesece form of a box-likeclosed or substantially closed band transversely encompassing the strutside 16 and the head 18 of the pin 17. A further characteristic of myinvention resides in the fact that the retaining device is formed invsectionsdefined by bonds or fold lines properly positioned to assure theconvenient and correct application of the device to use. The deviceWhile made of mild sheet steel, as the metal is ordinarily termed, is'ofmaterial rigidity, andthe bend or fold linesbeing properly positionedadd very greatly to the convenientapplication oi the deviceto thepartsfor which they are intended. struction shown in Fig. 2 resides inthe fart that the outeror top section 26 is of considerable length forconvenience in the manipulation ofthe-same and-"that the outer or topsection for locking tion.

I have described the invention as-applied tOdJltllZG-lQVGT pins,- butI'do not confine the invention to the application of the retainingdevice to the strut for a brake-lever, since thereareother connectionsin which theretainingdevice may be used-in exactly the the section 26 inoperative-posimanner represented in Fig: 2 and herein-'- beforedescribed. Theimechanismto which the retainingdevice will be applied\v-ill a1- w-ays comprise two partshaving-holesin registerand a. headedpin insertedthrough said holes for connectingcsaid parts in free faceto. face relation, and .the retaini-ng device will haveits middle orbasesection interposed between said two partsand contain auhole through:which said pin will pass, said device also.comprisingendsectionsextendingoutwardly from the ends of said base. section and outersections extending from the outer ends of said endsections and to befolded towardeachother over the-head of the pin.

What I claim as my invention and desire to-secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A pin-or bolt retaining device of the character described ton brake:levers and the like comprising two parts havingholes in. register and aheaded pin inserted through said holes for connecting said parts in treeface ton acerelation, in combination, said retainingdevice for said pinbeing of sheet metal and comprising amiddle or base section interposedbetween said parts and having a hole throughwhich said pin passes, endsections extending outwardlvfroni the ends of said base section andouter sections extending from the outer ends of said end sect-ionsand=adapted to be folded towardeach other at the outer face of the headof the pin,-said device forming aboX-like band encompassing; one of saidparts and the-head of-the pim-and one of said outer sections beingmaterially A distinctivefeatureof the-con- 27 is short and stiff andadapted longer than the other outer section, which overlaps the outerend of said longer section, for thepurpose described.

2. A pin or; bolt retaining device of the character described for brakelevers and the like comprising two parts having holes in register and aheaded pin inserted through said holes for connecting said parts in freeface-to-face relation, in combinm tion, said retaining device for saidpin being of sheet metal and comprising a middle or base sectioninterposed between said parts and having a hole through which said pinpasses, end sections extending outwardly from the ends of said basesection and outer sections extending from the outer ends of said endsections and adapted to be folded toward each other at the outer face ofthe head of the pin, said device forming a box-like band encompassingone of said parts and the head of the pin, and one of said outersections being of such length as to extend entirely across and beyondthe head of the pin, while the other outer section is short and overlapsthe outer end of said first-mentioned outer section.

3. In a brake-beam having a strut formed with opposite sides and a brakelever pivoted between said sides on a. headedpin extending through holesin said sides and lever, a sheet metal retaining device for said pincomprising'a middle or base section interposed between said lever andone of said sides and having a hole through which said pin passes, endsections extending outwardly from the ends of said base section andalong the side edges of said strut side and outer sections extendinginwardly over the head of the pin from the outer ends of said endsections, said device forming a box-like band transversely en compassingsaid strut side and the head of the pin, and one of said outer sectionsbeing materially longer than the other outer section, which overlaps theouter end of said longer section, for the purpose described.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, this 9th day of October A. D. 1924;.

SETH A. CRONE.

